FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, DC – The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) met for the second time on May 20 in Cupertino, California.
The bipartisan commission received classified briefs on the status of the U.S. government’s artificial intelligence strategies and examined overseas trends. Commissioner Safra Catz, CEO of Oracle, said the Commission’s work was urgent, “There is a race on, someone is running it, and we are still stretching. We must get serious about artificial intelligence as a national security priority.”
The NSCAI was created by the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act to examine the methods and means necessary to advance the development of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and associated technologies by the United States to comprehensively address the country’s national security and defense needs. Within its broad mandate, the Commission is focusing its efforts on how the United States can maintain global leadership in research and development, adopt AI applications for national security, prepare American citizens for an AI future, and ensure the United States continues to compete and cooperate to shape AI ethics, standards, and norms in the international arena.
To date, the Commission has received more than 50 classified and unclassified briefings in the working groups since it began its work over two months ago. The Commission’s Vice Chair and former Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work explained that the Commission is working closely with Congress and with the Department of Defense’s ongoing AI efforts, “In an era of great power competition, the Pentagon and others in the national security community must take on the AI challenge with a sense of purpose and clear objectives.”
The Commission is an independent federal entity, but Mr. Work affirmed the Commissioners want their work to complement and strengthen ongoing work in the executive branch and Congress, while also making additional recommendations to integrate artificial intelligence into national security programs.
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